Treatment of iron and steel.



No. 843,569. PATBNTBD FEB. 5, 1907. H. LUGKENBAGH.

TREATMENT OF IRON AND STEEL.

uruou'xon rum: ran. 10,1905.

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

UNITED sTATEs PAT NT OFFICE.

HARRY LUCKENBACH, OF sAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, AssIeNOR O1- PART INTEREST T WILLIAM H. KELLY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFOR- NIA, GEORGE L. ROBINSON, FREDERICK E. FISHEL, AND JOSEPH J. ROB- IN SON OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AN D FREDERICK F; NOLTE.

TREATMENT oi= IRON ANDSTEEQL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 5, 1907.

i .To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARRY LUOKENBACH, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Treat- .ment of Iron and Steel, of which the followi is a specification.

his invention relates to new and useful improvements in the treatment of iron and steel, (and other mineral s,) the object of the invention being to provide an improved process of treating molten cast-iron upon caving the blast-furnace preparatory to bei? run into pigs or shapes for shipment, w ereby the quality of the pig-iron will be great] improved and subseqlijient processes of re 1 mg the pig-iron w be rendered more or less unnecessary.

The molten iron produced by nace contains a percentage 0 phosphorus and silicon, which, though small in proportion, afiectve deleterious y the qualit of the iron, this eing particularly true of t e hosphorus, so that various processes of pud ling,

refining, or the like are resorted to to remove these impurities for the production of'steel from iron. I have discovered a method by which this removal can be accomplished while theiron is still in its fluid condition coming from the blast-furnace, thereby avoid ing expensive methods of refining which involve the reheating of the iron. 1

In the accompan ng drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section ilustrati-ng anapparatus .applied to a blast-furnace in which my imf proved process can be carriedtout. Fig.2 is,

- a perspective view, one end being broken away, of the refining-tank-used insaid'proc- I blast-furnace, the

ion' of the tank, the steam-pipe being shown inside elevation Fig. 5 ls a spective view of said steam-pipe.

Referring to the draw parts 0 which 'being of common construction need not be further a blast-fur .iron until the issui Fig. 3. r is an end view ;of.. the. tank, I

rmm moisture, then tapping the molten iron showi also the hood for c ofljthe 'asesQ Fig. 4 is a longitudinh l zla r icalsec ;conti'nu" broken p ersteam into the molten iron while at rest in I said vessel, substantiall 1 p esemsa' at the outer end, as shown. At the bottom of its outer end is an outlet 6, leading to the sow 7 and pigs 8 in the usual manner. In the bottomof said tank is laid a narrow tube 9 of platinum, closed at the outer end and perforated, as shown at 10, the entrance to said tube being controlled by a valve 11. Above the tank is a hood 12, having a stack 13. e

The process is as follows: First, superheated steam of as high a temperature as can be conveniently obtained is assed into the platinum tube andthrough t e perforations until the parts are so highly heated that the issuing steam is free from moisture. Then the molten iron is tap ed from the blast-furnace into the tank. the molten iron covers the platinum tube the highlysuperheated steam is discharged into the iron in all directions and passesupward and Outparticularly with the phosphorus, and the resulting gases are collected K the hood and pass off up the stack. After t esuperheated steam has been allowed to flow for a sufficient length of time to com letely effect the separation from the iron 0 the phos horns and the other impurities it is shut off, t e out- 7 let 6 is opened, and the iron is permitted to flow out In the usual manner.

The process of purifying'iron which consists ingenerating steam, su rheating the steam,passingthesu erheate steam into the bottom of a vessel adapted to contain molten steam is entirely free into said vessel from t e blast-furnace, and the injection of the superheated asflescribed. \In' witness whereof I ave hereunto set my nesses.

I, HARRY LU E B CII. J Witnesses: Y Y

a 1 Bnssm Gonrmnna,

-Fa noIs M. WRIGHT."

hand in the presence of two subscribing wit- 

